Creativity and Languages

Language Lovers Competition 2013

if you like this blog you can nominate it for the Language lovers competition 2013:

Nominations end the 20th May so there are 2 days left.

it takes about one minute to nominate it on this link (click).

Thanks!

Peter

{ 0 comments }

The language learning formula: an infographic on effective learning

For this post I created an infographic on the “language learning formula” that allows to learn a language effectively. This formula shows that motivation and opportunity are essential to learn a language, where opportunity is defined as the “time spent inthe language” multiplied by “the methods used to learn the language”. Time spent in the language [...]

How to stick to your new year’s resolution of learning a foreign language

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Good Intentions and new year’s resolutions are typically forget as soon we realize that implementing them require a good amount of willing power, commitment and determination. In this post I want to offer few advices inspired from research studies in human psychology that looked at what [...]

Language learning nudges: designing an environment that helps you learning

Understanding human psychological biases can help a language learner to design an effective learning environment. This post is inspired by a book that I read recently “Nudges: improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness”. The book is basically discussing how to use humans’ psychological biases to improve decisions and policies. I want to take some [...]

How to learn reading by watching movies. Tapping in DVD’s technology to learn a language.

In previous posts I made the point that movies can be useful tools for language learning and in particular I described how reciting movies can be used to improve speaking skills in the target language. In this post I want to describe another way to use movies to improve another aspect of learning a language: [...]

Learning to love the plateau – why sometimes being patient does pay off

“It is few months that I don’t make any progress, I have reached a plateau”. This is a classic sentence from a language learner, who is losing motivation to learn since he doesn’t see any progress. The linear model of learning One of the biggest assumptions made by people that are learning a new practical [...]

How do you learn writing German without (over)studying grammar ?

I don’t like grammar. Actually I made a point about learning a language without studying the grammar or at least by dedicating to it a very small percentage of my learning time, as I believe that people can learn a lot of grammar without deliberately studying it but simply by exposure to what it is [...]

Reciting movies to learn a language

In this post I introduce a technique I am using to learn German while looking movies. The technique forces me to be less passive than when looking a movie just for entertainment. Why do I want to force me to be less passive? Well, as I explained in previous posts active learning can help people [...]

The difference between incidental learning and deliberate learning and why it matters to language learners

When I was a child my parents bought a table game called “travels in Europe”. The players had to travel through the map and to answer some geography questions to advance and travel more. My parents probably bought the game because they understood the principle of incidental learning. What is incidental learning? (or accidental learning) [...]

Environmental support for language learning: comparing children and adults

I recently stumbled upon an academic article on how reading books fosters language development around the world. In the article the authors list the ideal environment to foster language acquisition in Children, or in the words of the authors the ideal “environmental support for language learning”, these are: Children need to hear many words often [...]

Principles of learning and memory: meaning

Psychologists recognize several principles the can help learning and an efficient use of memory. Among these principles the following seem to be particularly significant: Meaning Organization Association Visualization Attention In this post I want to focus on the role that Meaning has on learning and memorization. Why when we have to chose a password or [...]

Learnable intelligence and how it relates to language acquisition

One of the key factors to learn something is to believe that you can learn it. Unfortunately, there is a widespread assumptions that in many domains talent is essential to become successful. in this post I try to answer the following questions: Is intelligence genetically determined or can be learned? How this relates to (second) [...]

Knowing grammar without studying it: an emergent property of language acquisition?

As children we learn our native language without studying grammar (Sure, later at school we are forced to learn grammar but this happens when we are already fluent). We speak the language in a way that (mostly) follows grammar rules without knowing them, how is this possible? how is possible that we learn grammar without [...]

Is learning a language more similar to the process of learning to play piano or to the process of learning history? (About learning fast)

Currently, one of the most debated topic in the on-line language-learning community is the amount of time that is necessary to learn a language “fluently”. The debate was partly stimulated by one of the most popular blog on language learning where Benny, the author of this blog, is now trying to learn chinese in [...]

My 3 most important language-learning strategies of 2011

In this post I want to share the 3 most important strategies I learned in 2011 about language learning. I learned to value these strategies because I empirically tested them and found that they have improved substantially my learning process. I think these are strategies that can be useful to any language learner. [...]

Audio or text? The dilemma of the beginner language learner

And if we could learn a foreign language like we learnt our mother tongue? Surely, many of us have thought this while facing the challenge of learning a foreign language. Surely, there is something useful in understanding and analysing how children learn a language without going to a language school. Now the question I [...]

Mindful language learning. Why focus and attention are essential to learn a language

You are reading a book and you start thinking about what are you going to eat for dinner, you are writing a letter and you start checking your e-mail, you are cooking and you start thinking about the book you were reading. In a world full of multimedia gadget, sms, e-mail, twitter, distractions are always [...]

Investing in discomfort

Few days ago I was invited to a dinner and I started to chat with a guest. He was German and we started the conversation in German but it was obvious that, even if I could understand about 70% of what he was saying, I had also to struggle a bit. He suggested that we [...]

The secret to learn German? Forget about the declinations!

The plot goes along these lines: Years of German classes at school, painful hours spent learning declinations tables by heart, lot of frustration, and after all this pain not even being able to have a conversation with a German person. It is a common plot, and I think the way to avoid the sad end [...]

Looking movies to learn a language? Yes, but better if……..

Many people in the language-learning community argue that looking movies is a good way to learn languages. Of course almost everybody like the idea of learning a language by looking a movie but then, when you try, you may find that most of the conversations in movies are really difficult to understand, if you are [...]

How to use radio programs and parallel texts to learn a language

Are you bored about using school texts to learn a language? Well, you don’t have to use them. In this post I explain a simple but effective method to get exposed to a lot of comprehensible and interesting content in your target language. In a previous post I explained the reading-listening method that consists in [...]

Why it is easier to destroy than to create and how this relates to learning a language (and anything else)

In this post I am going to explain why learning a language is similar to forming a new habit and why you should never stop learning until you have reached fluency.

The principle of effect applied to learning a language

The law of effect states that if the responses to an action produce a somehow pleasant or satisfying feeling we are more likely to repeat the same action in the future when we are in a similar context. In other words, actions that produce a pleasant effect in a specific context are more likely to [...]

How to quickly gain some basic knowledge in an unwritten indigenous language

In this post I try to answer the following question: how can we gain quickly some basic knowledge in an unwritten language?

Learning a language to learn how to learn anything else

In this post I will explain how learning German has helped me to learn to identify medicinal plants used in the Amazon. These are apparently two unrelated skills but here I want to show how the principles of learning can be relevant in different fields such as botany and languages.

Do not forget The Forgetting Curve when learning a language (or anything else)

In this post I explain why we forget new information, how to avoid it and how this relates to learning a language

Why learning a language increases your creativity and why the most difficult is the language, the better it is

In this post I discuss why learning a foreing language, especially a difficult one, can increase your creativity

The difference between skills and knowledge and why this matters in language learning.

In this post I explain the difference between skills and knowledge an I apply the the minimum dose concept to language learning

Using random words to generate creative ideas and how to apply it for language learning.

Creative ideas are ideas that somehow fall outside the norm and the usual patterns of the mind. In this post I will describe a technique used to generate creative ideas and apply it to learning languages but it can be applied to find creative solutions to any kind of problem.

How to use lateral thinking to learn creatively a language

How to use lateral thinking to learn creatively a language. The post shows you one technique to think creatively.

How to become a polyglot by finding and using your own Rosetta Stone.

I explain a method that can be applied to learn many languages by choosing a book whose text and audio versions are available in many different languages.

Learning a language while learning something else: the obliquity method to learn languages

In a recently published book Author John Kay argues that goals are often best achieved indirectly. Similarly, I think that we can often learn a foreign language more effectively while we are doing something apparently unrelated to study the language itself.

Testing the reading & listening method (R-L)

In this post I am discussing the reading & listening method to learn languages. I came across with this method on the language forum “how to learn any language” a great source of inspiration for language learners. The reading & listening method (R-L) consists in reading a text while listening its audio version. Here is [...]

Why a native teacher is not always the best language teacher

For long time I believed that the best language teacher is a native speaker of your target language but I recently realised that this is not always the case. The crucial factor is to differentiate between who are the best people to practice the language with and who are the best people to teach you [...]

Learning languages with google translate

This week I will explain how I use google translate to learn German. I recommend this method to people that are at the intermediate level with their language level. While learning German I faced the dilemma that most of the books to learn this language have really boring text. I started to read some of [...]

How to use and how to not use flashcards to learn words

Why you should do your own flashcards I bought a set of flashcards to learn German words but soon after the initial enthusiasm I realised that they were almost useless and I ended up using them very little. Later, I started to do my own flashcards. I bought some blank cards and wrote on them [...]

Improv to learn languages. How I use theatre improvisation to learn German.

In this post I will explain why and how I use theatre improvisation to learn German.

How shopping can help you to learn a foreign language

This is a simple method that you can use to learn new words. To apply this method you need to be in a country where people speak your target language. This learning strategy is based on these principles: The memory would recall and retain better words when these are associated with images and smell and [...]

How to use images and stories to learn languages

Throughout human history people transmitted and learnt new knowledge by means of storytelling and some scientists argue that the human brain is wired to learn new information, and acquire social skills, through storytelling. Furthermore, the brain is all about connections, and memory does work by associating different ideas with each other and with sensorial information [...]

Improvisation games to learn a language

In this post I want to explain how I apply an improvisation theatre game to learn German.

← Previous Entries

Learning languages out of a classroom

Share this Article

About

Popular Posts

Recent posts

Topics

Popular Posts

Archives